Give It Up!

Lent Season is the Reason
While Lent is over - I thought I'd use the model of the "opportunity" Lent offers us. Yes, I know the purpose of Lent is suffering. But sometimes suffering feels good and is beneficial. That "good pain" anyone with masochistic tendencies sometimes crave. 

During the Lenten season, practicing and non-practicing Catholics (and other religions) select a favorite unhealthy vice to give up for 40 days and 40 nights. Lent comes at a good time, it's a couple months into the new year and when New Year's Resolutions tend to fade away. Easter is the epitome of spring - the time of year when motivation hits its peak. The winter diets have failed, the winter holiday and football eating season is over, so when the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, the possibilities seem endless.

Now, to all the faithful Catholics out there, I am in no way saying that the meaning of the Easter season is to diet. I am simply using it as another excuse/motivation/reason TO work it in. I very much understand and appreciate the real celebration of Easter, but for the purposes of this blog, I am focusing on the eating aspect :)

The easy part about giving something up during Lent is that "everybody's doing it." So there's power in numbers! Coworkers, friends, family can all commiserate over the vices they gave up during this time. It's that group mentality that can help hold you to it! In Lent's past, I've given up the cliche chocolates and fried food, but every year I try to come up with something new. Last year, Lent was right at the beginning of my lose-the-baby-weight diet, and instead of giving anything up - I added :30min workouts everyday. Some days it was really difficult, but I would squeeze in 10min here and there and somehow made it work. When I could do more I did more, and it was such an accomplishment and really catapulted me to my goal of losing 15lbs!

The Monthly Give-Up
Rewind several years, back to 2006. I decided to roll-out the Lent mentality and tied it into a New Year's Resolution. Since I've never been that great at keeping those either, I knew I had to make it interesting. So, every month I gave something  up. A lot of times it would be whatever I over-indulged in the previous month, but mostly I just rotated through my favorite bad things to give up every month. It become sort of a hobby and form of entertainment. Many of my friends knew about it, and would check in each month to see what I was giving up. At first I felt foolish telling people what I was doing because of course they'd ask "Why?" But to my surprise most people thought it was a great idea and would support me as the month would go on. My friend Katie even worked it into her 101 Things in 1001 Days goal project!

Get a Give-Up Friend!
Now bring it back to 2011 and I asked Katie if she wanted to be "give up" partners for 2011. Graciously, she agreed and for the past few months we have taken turns deciding what to give up each month. So not only do I have a partner in crime, which for any diet is a great support tool, but I also don't have power over my own give-ups every other month. I know it was VERY hard on me the month she chose for us to give up meat, but that motivated me to explore some fish recipes which were some of the tastiest (and healthiest) meals I've ever made!

So as silly as this method seems, it's really enjoyable and makes it more like a game than a diet. Plus after giving up these bad foods for a month, as much as I miss them, when the month is over I am still trained to shy away from them so it really helps to break (or at least lessen) that bad habit!

I recently had another idea to supplement the monthly give ups, that I'm going to start next week. Every week I am going to give up the bad food I indulged in the most the previous week. I will probably also add things - especially vegetables and exercise - that I need more of in my life!

I really enjoy this "diet" and it's a great way to just go cold turkey on any bad habit!


 

Don't Do This

Bad Habits of a non-Dieter
As I've said, I'm not a dieter. I'm a "watch my weight-er" and a "work out more-er" and a "try to eat healthy-er". I'm no expert in any facet of the weight loss or exercise world. I'm just a gal, trying not to be fat. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail - but each "relapse" I learn more and find ways to catch my bad habits.
So here's my quick list of my bad habits and why you should just not do them, or keep it to a minimum. My hope is that writing this list and sharing with the world will give me some humility so I am more motivated and aware of these bad habits that hold me back. So, just DON'T:

• Have a small second helping of cereal to use up the remaining milk. C'mon, Monica! You know I already have much more than the "serving size" in that first bowl! I need to simply use less milk or not cry over the spilled milk down the drain.
• Eat my daughter's leftovers. This is a hard one because of course she is a finicky eater like all toddlers. Add that to me being frugal and against wasting food and we have a lethal combination, my friends! I have gotten better about just discarding her wasted food or salvaging what I can for another time. We're also better at working her into our own meals, so instead of having her own separate meal, she's just eating what we're having - which, in turn, helps me eat less since I give her food off my plate!
• Snag the office freebies. Another side effect to me being cheap, is that I can't say no to a freebie. I'm like Pavlov's dog when there's free food or treats put out in the office. I think the urge to take advantage of something for free is bigger than my actual urge to eat whatever junk it is. Thankfully, I've grown tired of the monthly Deerfield's birthday cake and most of the usual candy found in co worker's candy dishes. But every once in awhile, someone will put out a favorite candy of mine and I'm putty. It's even worse when I'm the one to tempt myself. Case in point: the jelly beans I've had in my candy dish this month :(
• Over-indulge the splurge. So my husband and I will decide to "splurge" on pizza for dinner on a Saturday night. We'll say "let's be fat!" And that's fine every once in awhile, but ordering pizza is considered fat enough. Declaring a "fat night" doesn't put me in a consequence-free world. It's not like these calories don't count! So it's a bad habit to throw caution to the wind after already indulging in fatty pizza, to say "to hell with it" and bust out a pint of ice cream or something.
• Go on hiatus. When we moved in late October, life got very busy. All the packing, moving, unpacking, decorating - you know how it goes. By the time we were mostly settled in, it was Thanksgiving and right into the busy Christmas season. Knowing it was going to be very busy to fit in any workouts, I basically just gave myself a "hall pass." Not cool. Now, I think it would have been just fine to not feel guilty for only working out once a week or only squeezing in 5min of sit-ups here and there in that time. But I really just said to myself,  "I'm not gonna bother working out until after Christmas." Gee, what do you think happened next? Yup! I gained 6lbs. I'm sure I would have gained a few anyway with the holidays and only being able to work out a little, but at least I would have not completely fallen off the wagon. When January hit, I felt like I was brand new to working out and starting all over. Even though I was on a really great workout regiment for almost a year before then, it was as if all that work and training and progress had just washed away. So yes, sometimes life just gets too busy and stressful and workouts have to take the backseat, but that doesn't mean they have to just be ignored completely. If I had just done some of my Just Do Something tips, I would not have felt so out of touch with working out when I got back into it. AND I wouldn't have had the guilt I had from slacking off for 2 months.

Do you have any of these bad habits too? Do you have other bad habits?

Just Do Something!

Nike says "Just Do It"
Monica says "I can't just do it, but I gotta do something!"
I am hoping that once the weather is warmer I will be so excited to get outside running again, that once the evenings are longer it won't feel like bedtime by the time I get home at 6:30pm at night! Basically, I'm just hoping something happens to get me back on the motivated train because lately, working out has just been a chore by the time I can squeeze in the chance to actually do it.
I have given myself "goals" of working out every day - but let's face it, that is just too hard for me and my lifestyle. Some extra-motivated folks may say "well, then you're just not motivated enough!" or "that's just an excuse, you can workout everyday if you try harder!" But yea, not so much. I did it in the few months before my wedding, but even that was difficult and I didn't even have a kid AND belonged to a gym that was a 10-minute walk away that I would go to WITH my husband!
I was uber motivated again to shed the last of my baby weight last summer and got into running and even signed up for a "Boot Camp" class at the park district. I did lose the weight and it was fun and felt great, but I did have to sacrifice precious evenings with my daughter in order to do it. Even just going out for a 30min run can make me feel guilty sometimes that I'm basically taking that Mommy time away. It is a means to an end at times, though, as working around my schedule leaves little time for exercise. Even now I sometimes will workout before Addison's bedtime just to get it done because I know laziness and tiredness takes over too easily.

Ok, so long story long - now that you know my back story and woes, you understand my motivation to "Just Do Something!"
I am taking a leadership class through work, and one of the segments focused on time management. The part that spoke loudest to me was taking time from the "waste zone" and putting it into the "proactive zone", since that can be in our control.
I have adapted to this thinking, by instead of sticking myself with the daunting goal of working out 30min+ every day  - giving myself an ongoing way of thinking to just work out when I can. Because let's face it, what happens when I'm a little tired and just not in the mood to work out - or get caught up in housework and have a busy weekend? I think of working out and just roll my eyes and say to hell with that. So to supplement, I've started doing little exercises intermittently as I carry on with the usual tasks of my day. Here's some examples:

• Calf raises or side bends/twists while brushing my teeth
• Sit ups/push ups/leg raises while watching TV
• Pausing to do a few squats while cleaning
• Running up the stairs instead of just walking
• Walking briskly and taking the long route to get water at work
• We have a chin-up bar attached to our spare bedroom doorway outside the bathroom so while Addison takes a bath, Tim does a few chin-ups!
• My boss and coworker recently purchased exercise balls to sit on at at their desks for chunks of time throughout the day
• Addison likes to play "Unning Too" which is basically her just running circles around the house and making us run with her. Well, instead of just fake running slowly at her pace, I've started to exaggerate my steps (like running in place). Well after 10min or so of this with her, my heart rate is definitely up and I'm out of breath!

Of course this isn't as a committing a full 30min+ to exercise and focus on the workout. But, hey, it's gotta be better than me NOT doing these things, right? There's also a subliminal benefit to this I'm picking up on as well - by constantly squeezing little workouts into my everyday activities, exercise is always at the forefront of my mind. Even after these little 2 minute spurts here and there, my body feels more alive and that is the gift that keeps on giving - since that fuels me to continue to work out and stay "on the wagon."
So I'm not saying this in any way replaces the benefits of a solid workout, but we're all busy and we're all unmotivated at times. But if I can at least "Do Something" - it feels way better than not doing anything!
With that - I'm going to go speed walk to refill my water!

Water: The Basics

Like a Fish Loves Water
It's really that simple. Water does wonders for your health and any diet, especially in the beginning. I grew up drinking milk, water and juice with only the occasional soda. So, depending on how you look at it, I was at a disadvantage to lose weight - since one of the easiest dieting tips is to cut soda intake. I would hear stories of people losing 10lbs in a month just because they switched to diet soda. I wish I had just that one thing to go without to lose weight! But I was always a good "drinker."
During my years in drum corps, we were constantly lectured about drinking enough water. They'd tell us if our "pee isn't clear, you're not drinking enough water!" As graphic as that sounds, it's a guideline I keep with me today! During a typical 6-8 hour drum corps rehearsal, I drank at least a gallon of water. I always had a full water jug under my bus seat and next to my sleeping bag at housing sites as I would wake during the night just to drink water. Of course, these were extreme circumstances. We were burning thousands of calories out in the scorching sun day after day, sweating profusely, so water was our life source.
However, when I got out into the real world and had to adjust to having a real schedule, I wanted to start some good habits. I decided the first step would be increase my water intake. I made sure to drink my 8 -8oz glasses of water a day. I admit, at first it was a little challenging to keep up on. Not because I don't like water, or couldn't drink that amount - but just incoporating that much water into  your entire day can be hard to fit in! I would find myself only at 4 glasses at the end of the day, so would have to chug a big bottle of water to make it up.
After just a couple weeks, though - there I was: bottle of water always with me, glass of water on my nightstand and yes, going to the bathroom about 8 times a day. It took a little getting used to, but once I did - it was the first real "lifestyle" change I have ever made and stuck with. It has been eight years and I am still a water addict! If I go a couple hours without water, I get headaches and feel like my veins are collapsing!
As you can see in my previous post, I have water built in to my daily schedule. It wards off some food cravings, because I make myself finish an entire glass of water before having a snack or meal. Drinking the right amount of water is easy to do if you have a desk job. I always have my cup next to me and make sure to fill it before I go to a meeting. It also gives me a built-in reason to get off my butt several times a day to re-fill and/or to go to the rest room, so it helps in that regard too!
Water helps in so many ways. It keeps your skin soft and hair strong. I usually get an annual cold, but it doesn't stick around for long or escalate, and I'm sure the amount of water I consume helps push those yucky germs out. It also helps with digestion and preventing post-meal tummy aches. When I feel I've eaten something that disagrees with me a bit, I make sure to wash it down with plenty of water to get it moving on through.
Also, while pregnant I read so many articles urging mothers to drink plenty of water. I had no problems doing that and I think it really helped minimize my body aches and cramping. I didn't really have many aches and pains or cramping during my pregnancy thanks, I think in most part, to water! The same was true while Addison was an infant and I was breastfeeding. I felt the more water I consumed the better my supply would be, and that can only benefit the baby too - getting as much hydration as they can too from the milk.
I could really go on and on about water. It seems so simple and silly, I know. But yet there are so many people I know who hardly drink water at all and instead consume several sodas a day! It's such an easy life change to adapt and stick with, plus there's no side affects!
So put down that soda and grab a water bottle. We've got some drinking to do!
CHEERS!

Slim-Fast

I thought the appropriate way to launch this blog was to discuss the one diet "fad" plan that I do buy into!

I am sure many of you are rolling your eyes or gagging at the thought of Slim-Fast. But for me, it's a convenience diet. It's cheap and doesn't require any thought - and really, much discipline. As difficult as it may seem to not eat food for lunch, if the food is not in front of me, I am not tempted!

Yes, I do get hungry. Yes, sometimes I would rather chew my lunch than drink it. So how does it work for me?
It's simple - it's a routine. Being able to adapt to and adopt a routine is key for any diet to work and become a way of life.
I  drink Slim Fast for lunch four times a week- and never on weekends. It's the "diet" I've ever been on, and I've been able to be on it for long stretches at a time. Currently, I've been doing this since January and have no thought of ending it anytime soon. It is my way of life!
So, for anyone who may be interested in giving the Slim Fast diet a try, here's how it works for me on any given day at work:

• 9am : FiberOne bar w/coffee
• 10am - 12pm: 16oz cup of water
• 12pm: 100 calorie snack-pack or fruit or rice cake
• 12pm - 2pm: 16oz cup of water
• 2pm: Slim Fast shake
• 3pm - 4pm: 16oz cup of water
• 4pm: 100 calorie snack-pack or fruit or rice cake
• 4pm - 6pm: 16oz cup of water
• 6pm: leave work
• 6:30pm-7pm: healthy(ish) dinner and more water!

As you see, eating small meals frequently and getting at least my full dose of water for the day are KEY to making this work. The distraction of work and the fact that I buy SlimFast shakes a dozen at a time, storing them in my work fridge keeps it easy and a no-brainer. Temptation does creep in, and that is why I allow myself to go out to lunch at maximum once a week.
So give it a try if this sounds like something that may work with your lifestyle and with your mindset!